The propellant actuated hinge remover generally relates to vehicle and strong door hinges and more specifically to a hinge plate, or yoke, having a specialized form and components that release the yoke following ignition of a propellant. The present invention remains inert until a command ignites the propellant which then releases the mechanical hold of the yoke to a vehicle or a door frame. The present invention allows for rapid egress from a vehicle or room, typically in an emergency.
Vehicles and rooms with heavy doors, such as coolers, freezers, and light vaults, have doors mounted upon hinges attached to a frame or as an integral part of a frame. The following description refers to vehicles though application to heavy doors not on vehicles is included. A vehicle generally has doors for ingress and egress of passengers and for loading and unloading cargo into the interior of the vehicle. Vehicle doors generally pivot on an exterior edge upon hinges inside of the exterior surface of a vehicle. This location prevents the hinges from disrupting the appearance of the vehicle and from reducing the airflow along the vehicle. In military vehicles, locating hinges within the body of the vehicle also lessens the radar profile of the vehicle.
A vehicle door hinge generally has two components connected by a pin or other rotatable means, such as a pawl and wheel. One component secures to an edge of the door and the other component secures to the vehicle body. A pin, or other rotatable means, then allows the component on the door to pivot relative to the component upon the vehicle body. Upon select vehicles, the component upon the body remains an integral part of the body. The body itself has various pins formed therein that cooperate with the component upon the door during opening and closing.
Vehicles in general include armored military land vehicles, bomb disposal vehicles, and select naval equipment. These vehicles generally have heavy doors because of their armor yet the doors serve the same passenger and cargo purposes as other vehicle doors. These doors protect the people and cargo inside an armored vehicle from weapons fire, concussion, explosion, nuclear, biological, chemical agents, and the weather. To fulfill this protective purpose, the doors have armor much like the remainder of the vehicle and various seals to close the perimeter of the door to infiltration by a host of hazards in a combat, bomb disposal, or other serious situation. From time to time though, such a door on an armored vehicle requires quick opening, typically for emergency egress of the vehicle passengers and crew. A quick door opening may take place following a round entering the compartment of the vehicle occupied by people or the armored vehicle losing the ability to move.